Mechanical catch.



F. O. LIMING.

MECHANICAL CATCH. 7 APPLICATION FILED FEB. 14 1918- v 1,291,033, htented Jan. 14, 1919.

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- F. 0. LIMING.

MECHANICAL CATCH.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I4. 1918- ;1,291,033. Patented Jan. 14,1919.

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MECHANICAL CATCH.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 14. ISIS.

1,291,033. Patented Jan. 14, 1919.

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. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- FRANZ OBME LIMING, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN M. LIMING, OF FAIRFIELD, IOWA.

MECHANICAL GA-TGH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 14, 1919.

To all whom it may concern 7 Be it known that I, FRANZ ORME LIMING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mechanical Catches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to mechanical catches and has especial reference to automatic catches adapted to'hold a door open and to release the door, to permit it to be closed, upon further movement thereof. 7 One of the objects of my invention is to provide a catch which is adapted to hold and retain a movable device, such for example asa spring-closed door, in open position, when the door has been moved to its open position, and which will automatically release the door upon its further movement in door opening direction.

Other and further objects of my invention will become readily apparent, to persons skilled in the art, from a consideration of the following description when taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein Figure 1 shows the catch as applied to a door to hold it open.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the catch with the cover removed, showing the manner of engaging the door.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the mechanism in position to release the door.

Fig. 4 shows the normal position of the parts after the door has been released.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section taken on line 55 of Fig. 2.

F ig. 6 is a transverse section taken on line 66 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a similar section taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a transverse section taken on line 88 of Fig. 2.

In all the views the same reference characters are used to indicate similar parts.

In the drawings 10 is a hinged door, having the catch 11 secured thereto near the top thereof. A rod 17 isarranged near the top of the door parallel with the top surface thereof and fixed thereto, as (t 13 and 14. A lug 15 is slidable on the rod 17 and is pivoted, as at 16, to a rod 17 that is also pivoted to the underside of the door jamb, as at 18. When the door is closed, the lug 15 will slide along the rod 17 to apoint near the fixed end 14. The lug 15 has an upwardly extending portion 15 for engaging the catch as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

The catch 11 consists of a casing 19, open at its bottom, as at 20. The casing is provided with openingsor perforations 22 through which to insert screws to secure the device to the face of the door.

A rod 23 is slidable in a bracket 24 and is provided with a head 25 on its opposite end. An open helical spring 26 surrounds the rod and abuts against a sliding bar or lug 27 This bar or lug may freely slide along the rod 23, resisted by the spring 26, and prevented from leaving the end of the bar by the head 25. A nut 28 may be employed to determine the effective or operative length of the rod 23 to adjust the normal position of the lug 27. A latch 29 is pivoted, as at 30, in the casing and when in its depressed position, as shown in Fig. 2, it engages the front edge 15 of the sliding lug '15 thereby holding the door, to which the lug 15 is connected by the rod 17, in open" position. When the door is opened the'lug 15 is slid alon the rod 17. When it engages the slide bar 27, its movement operates the mechanism to depress the latch 29'into the position shown in Fig. 2, thus holding the lug 15 between the latch lever 29 and the slide bar 27, holding the door opened. After the lug 15 passes the end ofthe latch 29 the latch is moved downwardly, by a slight further movement of the door to slide the bar 27 on the rod 17 This eEect is produced by the sliding of the bar 27 in the following manner. A sliding dog 31 is supported by a bracket 32 and by a slot in the upper end of the bar 27. The bar 27 is moved, by the operation of the door sliding'the lug 15 on the rod 17, until the projection 34 engages and overlies the projection 35 on the slide 36. Further movement of the bar 27 will cause the projection 37 to engage the overhanging projections 38 on thedog 31. This will move the dog 31 to the position shown in Fig. 3. It will also raise the link39, to which .it is pivoted, as at- 40, and which in turn is pivoted to a two ended lever 41, as at 42. Now the slide 36 will begin to move until the vertically extending bracket 43 engages the enlarged end 44 of the rod 45. The first action described will cause the pivoted, as at 48, to the end of the double ended lever, into contact with a lever 49, that is pivoted to the frame, as at 50. At the same time the bracket 43 has moved the rod 45, by its engagement with its enlarged end 44, and thereby has moved the ward, or

' plate 51, on its pivot 52 by its engagement therewith, as at 53. The ward, or plate 51, carries a spring 55 which yieldingly tends to hold the lever 49 in its elevated position, as shown in Fig. 2, in engagement with the shoulder 51 of the latch plate 51, this holds down the levers 29 and 49 until released by the latch 51, whereupon they will be raised by the spring 55.

When the lever 49'is depressed, the latch arm 29 will fall by efiect of gravity from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 2. The lever 49 is depressed by rotation of the double ended lever 41, when rotated on its pivot 52. Pivoted to the end of this lever is a dog 47 which pushes the lever 49 downwardly and then permits the lever 41 to' return to normal position, shown in Fig. 4.

When the latch lever 29 drops down, it is in the return path of the lug 15, which is slidable upon the bar 17, and thereby the door is held in its open position. When the door hasbeen released by the hand of the operator, after being moved to door open position, the parts will assume the position shown in Fig.2, with the lug 15 in axial contact with the inner'end of the latch lever 29, the lug '15 being held against the latch 29 by the slidable'bar 27 and the spring 26.

To release the door from the latch, it must again be moved in the same direction in which itwas moved to open door position, a short distance farther than it was moved when it was latched, so that the parts will now occupy substantially the position shown in Fig. 3. This operation causes the ward 51 to be moved on its pivot 52, by engagement of the bracket 43 with the head 44 of the rod 45. When the ward 51 is thus moved, the shoulder 51 is moved out of engagement with the shoulder 49 of the lever 49 and the spring 55 will then raise the lever 49 and the latter by its engagement with the inturned end 29 of the lever 29 will raise the latch lever '29, whereupon the lug 15, being spring-pressed by the door spring, will move out from under the latch 29 along the rod 17 and permit the door to be closed by its spring.

The spring 60 is connected to the bracket 43, and causes the slide 36, when released, to move back to its normalposition, but it is not strong enough to move the ward 51 on its pivot when the lever 49 is locked in depressed position. Apin 61 is fixed to the dog and engages the edge of the lug or bar 27 whereby the dog 31 is positively moved back to its normal position.

Now when the lever 49 is returned to its normal position, shown in Fig. 4, the pivoted dog 47 will again assume a vertical position, the-arrangement being such that it will move upon its pivot 48 when the latch 29 and lever 49 are raised by spring 55, without interference by either.

While I have herein shown and described a single embodiment of my invention for the purpose of clear disclosure, it will be manifest to persons skilled in the art, tha changes may be made inthe general configuration ,ofthe parts and the disposition thereof, and that equivalents may be used within the scope ofthe appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. An automatic catch comprising a casing; a latch-lever pivoted at one end thereof; a spring-pressed lug slidable on ;a rod within the casing and connections between said lug and latch-lever ,to move the latter into latching position when the former is displaced and to release the latch to cause it to be moved out of latchingposition when it is further displaced in the same direction.

3. An automatic catch comprising a casing; a latch lever pivoted at one .end thereof; a spring-pressed lug slidable in said casing, a rod substantially parallel with-the casing upon which-the lug is slidable; connections between said lug and latch-lever to move the latter into latching position when the former is slidingly displaced and to move the latchout of latching position when it is moved farther in thesame direction.

4. An automatic catch comprising a casing; a rod substantially parallel with the casing; a spring-pressed lugslida-ble in said casing, having one end pro ect1ng therefrom and slidable on said rod; a latch-lever in front of said lug having its remote end pivotedlto said casing and means, operable by movement of said lug, to move the proximate end of said latch lever into a position in front of said lug to include a movable latched part between said lug and latch lever. V

In a device of the character described,

a casing; a slidable lug in said casing, a 7

guide rod parallel with the casing on which said lug is slidable; a spring surrounding the said rod to yieldingly hold the lug in normal position; a latch-lever, having one end pivoted in said casing to permit its other end to be moved out of said casing in front of said lug, and connections for moving said latch-lever into said position when the lug is moved a given distance and to raise the latch-lever When the lug is moved to a greater distance.

6. In a device of the character described, a catch, having a yielding movable lug and a latch lever; a guide rod, parallel with the path of movement of said lug; a part,

10 movable on said guide rod to engage the lug; means, operable by movement of the lug, to move the latch-lever into the path of said part to prevent its return'and responsive to further movement of the lug in the same direction to raise the latch-lever out of the path of said part and to permit its return.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand.

' FRANZ ORME LIMING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of .Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

